


Cat's Cradle

by Clue1117



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Gen, Harry Potter was Raised by Remus Lupin, Harry gets a decent childhood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7867123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clue1117/pseuds/Clue1117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>J.K. Rowling herself said that “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Choices have power, and any one of them can change your story.  Indeed, the choices of those around you can change your story. And that’s an awful lot of choices and an awful lot of different stories.  </p><p>In this one, Minerva McGonagall makes a different choice, and Remus Lupin and Harry Potter get a shot at happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Choice

**Author's Note:**

> I have a decent chunk of this story written, but unedited. I am hoping that posting what I have ready will motivate me to actually finish writing and editing the story. I hope you enjoy :)

Very early in the morning on the 1st of November any nosy residents of Privet Drive looking out their windows would have seen a very tall and ancient man with quite a lot of beard and very blue eyes peering over a long and crooked nose argue politely and quietly with an only slightly shorter woman with a very tidy bun and square spectacles. They would swear there had been only a tabby cat on the street a moment before. And they would be quite surprised by the sheer size of the very hairy man who arrived on a flying motorcycle shortly after the others. Well, they would probably have been quite surprised by the flying motorcycle too. 

 

But nobody from privet drive was looking out their windows that night, and even if they had been the only odd thing they would notice was that the street was very dark, as though all of the street lights had been put out. They wouldn’t have noticed the giant man flying off again on his motorbike, or the man with the crooked nose walking to the end of Privet Drive and magicing the street lamps back on. And they certainly wouldn’t have noticed the stern looking woman turning back in to a cat and darting behind the low wall she had spent all day observing the inhabitants of Number Four from. Indeed, nobody noticed this, not even her companions, and Albus Dumbledore (for that was the ancient man’s name) left under the assumption that Minerva McGonagall (for that was what the cat was called, at least when she was human) had apparated home while his back was turned. 

 

The cat stood, with fur on end and ears pricked up for several long minutes. When she was certain the street was empty except for herself and the baby on the doorstep in front of her, she became human again and sat on the wall for several more minutes, watching the baby. Harry Potter (the baby, that is, who had been named after his paternal grandfather,) stirred in his sleep and snorted quietly. McGonagall started forward to pick up the child on instinct, thought better of it, and sat back down. And she thought very hard while she sat there – for Dumbledore had told her that Harry would be best raised away from his fame in the wizarding world, and he had been right, as was usually the case. But McGonagall could not shake the feeling that little Harry Potter would not be best left here, with these awful Muggles whom she had watched all day. 

 

She herself was a busy teacher and not well suited to raising a baby. Indeed, Dumbledore was the Headmaster of her school and it would be very difficult to hide the child if she had him with her there, and McGonagall thought it best that Dumbledore not know, at least not until things were settled, if she took the child away from here. He would be very displeased if McGonagall removed Harry from the house he had chosen for him. But the Potters had friends, a gang of young men and women who she had taught and thought highly of. Sirius Black was perhaps too rash to trust with an infant, but he loved the boy. Remus Lupin had always had a steady head on his shoulders, and McGonagall recalled that his mother had been a muggle, so he was comfortable in that world. Indeed, he was almost ideal - the poor man’s Lycanthropy was the only problem she could see, and she could also see ways around that. There was also Marlene MacKinnon, a Welsh muggleborn who had been fast friends with Lily since their first year and who traveled widely collecting potions ingredients. There were others too, Peter Pettigrew who had always idolised James, and the Longbottoms, who had a son about Harry’s age, or her own brother Malcom, who had three children of his own. Any of them, Minerva thought, would be better than this gossipy woman, her mean husband, and entitled son. 

 

She thought of the fat son kicking his mother all down the street, demanding sweets, and she thought about the first and only time she had met these people, at James and Lily’s wedding. They had been horrible then too and Lily had been furious. This was not what Lily would want, McGonagall thought. 

 

Finally, after quite a bit more thinking, Minerva McGonagall made a choice. She stood up stiffly from the wall, where she had now been sitting for the better part of an hour, and walked to the steps of Number Four. She picked up the bundle of blankets that contained Harry Potter and dissaperated with a soft pop. 

 

That morning, all Petunia Dursley found on her front step was the milk. 

 

...*...*...*...

 

When Harry woke, it was in a cot in a cozy bedroom in a pleasant house on the outskirts of Edinburgh. When he began crying, a plump woman with very short dark hair came quietly in to the room, scooped him up, and began singing as she changed his nappy, dressed him in clothes that she fetched from a dresser and shrunk with an emphatic wave of her wand, and carried him down a flight of stair and into a bright kitchen. She fed Harry breakfast and made the dishes do themselves and it was several hours before Harry started crying again, missing his mum and dad. The witch soon got him calmed down again, but it hadn’t yet been two hours when he started crying again. She thought it odd the child didn’t speak at all, but then, he was only fifteen months – perhaps he was just a little behind. 

 

On the day went, with Harry crying and the nice woman who wasn’t his mum calming or distracting him until he stopped, and despite her best efforts, Harry did not have a mid-day nap. He must have fallen asleep eventually, because she woke up in an armchair with Harry drooling all over her blouse when her husband got home from work. 

 

“Hello love.” Malcom rumbled as he kissed his wife on the cheek in greeting. “Good day?” 

 

“I’ve had better. He looks so sweet when he’s asleep, but this kid can scream! I’d forgotten how loud they can be when they’re this small.” Her husband chuckled – he too remembered sleepless nights and miserable visits to the pediatric healer’s office when their own children had been this size. Now their children, all three of them, were at Hogwarts and the house sometimes seemed too quiet. 

 

“Has Minerva come back yet?” 

 

“No, not yet. I suppose she’s busy up at Hogwarts with everything that’s going on.” 

 

“Aye, I expect so. But I’d quite like an explanation. Honestly, where did she find this kid? It’s just like Min to go around collecting strays.” The woman hummed agreeably. “Well, I might as well start supper – anything in particular you fancy Trish?” 

 

“Anything that’s easy enough to feed the baby is fine by me.” 

 

Supper was made and served and eaten by the time Minerva finally arrived with a swooshing noise and a sprinkling of soot from the fire. 

 

“Hello Minnie” Malcom said with a grin, getting to his feet and kissing his sister on the cheek. He was her equal in height and twice as broad across the shoulders, but she still pursed her lips at the childish nickname. 

 

“Hello Malcom” she said, sounding a little exasperated, but giving her brother a fond hug anyways. Next she went to her sister in law and kissed her cheek. “Hello Patricia.” Lastly she approached the little boy sitting on the carpet amongst a pile of toys and kissed the top of his head, murmuring “hello Harry.” 

 

Minerva turned back to Patricia and said “thank you for looking after him. You have no idea how much it means to me.” 

 

Just as Patricia replied that she didn’t mind at all really, she had plenty of Holiday time saved up, and really the kid had been sweet, her husband said very seriously “If it means so much to you, will you at least explain why?” 

 

And Minerva did. She explained everything, from how fond she had been of the Potters, to how horrible the Dursleys were; from Dumbledore’s plan all the way through to her decision; from the horrors of Halloween night right through her time at Privet Drive and all the way through that day’s unpleasant additions to the tale. Sirius Black had been arrested, she explained, for the betrayal of the Potters and the murders of his friend Peter Pettigrew and thirteen muggles. The only upside she said, was that Remus Lupin had been called to Hogwarts, so that he would at least find out the news from friendly faces. Because, you see, Lupin just lost his three best friends in fewer days, and with tears in her eyes McGonagall told Dumbledore that she, as Remus’ former Head of House, knew the poor man better than Dumbledore did, and wouldn’t it be better if she delivered the sad news? 

 

And she did, and she patted him comfortingly on the shoulder when he cried and offered him a handkerchief. She watched him breaking, and she thought that perhaps she had the one thing that might hold him together. So she explained, quietly and quickly, about Dumbledore’s plan to leave Harry with the Dursleys (and was gratified by the look of horror on Lupin’s face as she said it,) and about taking the baby. She explained to this shaking young man what taking Harry would mean – it would mean going mostly muggle, having the house under fidelius, and locking himself in the basement once a month while Minerva watched Harry. It would mean defying Dumbledore. 

 

He agreed to the terms readily, and Minerva returned her brother’s house, where she wrapped up her explaining. 

 

“Goodness, Min. That’s a lot to take in.” 

 

“I know you’re fond of Dumbledore, and I’m certain all this could get you in trouble, so I’ll modify your memory if you’d prefer, so that if anyone comes asking you aren’t implic-“ 

 

Patricia interrupted “no, Min, what you did was right. I’ll help however I can.” 

 

“We’ll help however we can.” 

 

And they did, for many years to come. Harry would grow up adoring his Uncle Malcom and his Auntie Trish.

 

...*...*...*...

 

It was very late when Minerva McGonagall apparated in to the garden of a rundown stone cottage on a quiet country road in the North of Wales, almost twenty miles outside the nearest town. The only things to notice her arrival were the sheep grazing in the pasture surrounding the cottage. In fact, she mused, the squat little building looked as though it had probably been built to house the sheep, a very long time ago. 

 

The door of the cottage opened before she could knock, and Remus Lupin stood framed in the light. “Hello Professor.” 

 

“I think you can call me Minerva now dear, given we have essentially conspired to kidnap a child.” 

 

“Er, right Professor. Minerva, I mean.” The name sounded wrong in his soft, rumbly voice. “Is Harry…?” That name sounded just right. 

 

“He’s fine, I think. I gave him a drop of dreamless sleep potion with his bottle so he wouldn’t mind the apparition.” As she said this Minerva swept her traveling cloak aside to reveal a bundle of blankets with a tuft of black hair just visible tucked in the crook of her arm, and a wicker basket held in her other hand. 

 

Remus reached out instinctively when he saw the baby, then stopped himself, not sure if he was allowed to take the child. 

 

“Yes, yes, come take him please, Remus.” And that was all the encouragement he needed. Minerva thought she saw Remus begin to put himself back together a little as he snuggled Harry to his chest and kissed the boy’s head. “Now, we had best get inside so that I can explain everything in a bit more detail.” 

 

Remus let McGonagall lead him in to his own home, and only nodded blankly when she offered him a cup of his own tea. His attention was solely on the baby in his arms as he took a seat in the armchair by the fire, settling Harry comfortably, and burning his tongue on the first sip of tea. Placing his cup on the table beside him, he looked up at McGonagall, who had settled herself on the small couch opposite his chair, and said with a look of panic “I don’t know where to buy nappies.” 

 

Giving a small snort of laughter, McGonagall pulled a small bundle out of the wicker basket and gave it a prod with her wand, causing it double in size. “Malcom and Patricia sent plenty. They sent everything they thought you might need, actually.” And she pulled several more bundles and boxes out of the wicker basket, returning each to its original size as she did so and providing a running commentary. “Clothes, bottles, plastic dishes, toys, and some books on child development and parenting. They said they would send along some books on early magical education when Harry gets old enough for you to need them. Now,” she continued, pulling out a sheaf of papers and an envelope, “these are from me. Lily had the good sense to get Harry a muggle birth certificate, so that’s in there, along with some muggle adoption paperwork. You don’t have to, of course, if you feel James and Lily wouldn’t want it, but I think it would make everything much easier. You'll need to be his legal guardian at least. I assume your mother got you a birth certificate?” At Remus’ nod Minerva went on, “excellent. I’m afraid that I don’t know muggle law terribly well, but I think you’ll need muggle death certificates for Lily and James, and perhaps a will showing that they wanted you to look after Harry in order to complete the process. I’ll talk to Elphinstone about that anyways, see what the process for getting a death certificate might be. Dumbledore has their wills, I’m afraid, so we might have to use a bit of magic there, but I’m certain we can get it all sorted out. There should be enough in that envelope to cover the costs.” 

 

Looking overwhelmed, Remus nodded. Seeing that he had nothing to add just yet, McGonagall went on. “I see no problem with Harry knowing about magic - indeed it’s probably best - but I do think that Dumbledore was right about it being in Harry’s best interests to be raised away from the magical world and his fame. Do I recall correctly that your mother encouraged you to continue your muggle education once you started at Hogwarts?” 

 

“Uh, yes. Yeah, I managed three A Levels. Pursued an NVQ after that.” 

 

“Excellent, so you should be able to find work in the muggle world?” 

 

Remus flushed and looked away. “It’s really the only place I can find work.” 

 

“Ah, I see. Well, that’s to our advantage now – if you’ve been working muggle since you graduated, then you have an established identity there; you've existed in their world since birth, and have credentials, a job, a bank account. You won't raise any red flags if a judge or social services need to get involved in getting you custody – as I said, I don't know precisely how the process works. Where is it that you work?” 

 

“The library in town.” 

 

“Splendid. Do you enjoy your work there?” 

 

“Well, it’s not bad. Better than the supermarket, certainly. I enjoy being around the books.” 

 

“Well then, if you’re happy there for the time being let’s leave discussing career prospects for another day. However, you'll need to call first thing tomorrow and request some leave time. I think the truth is the best option here – that very dear friends of yours have died suddenly and you are now guardian to their young son. Take as much time as you need, I'll help with your expenses.” Here she waved away Remus' protests and kept talking. "Whether you choose to legally adopt Harry or not, you'll need to use some of your time off to settle your custody of Harry." 

 

“Yes, Professor.” 

 

“I think that about settles things then. This house, it belongs to you?” 

 

“Uh, yeah. My parents left it to me when they died. We moved here just before my eleventh birthday.” 

 

“Excellent. That means I’ll have no trouble putting it under the fidelius charm. I’ll be your secret keeper, of course. I assume you have somewhere safe on the property to change?” 

 

“The cellar, yes. Dad warded it when we moved here, and it is solid stone anyways.” 

 

“Yes, that will do. On the day of the next full moon I will return and add my own wards to the cellar, and I will remain through the night to watch Harry. For now, let us prepare a room for the boy and then cast the fidelius. I think we are both beyond tired at this point and had best retire at the first opportunity.” With this, Minerva stood up with a swoosh of robes and a flick of her wand that caused the various baby related bits to fly back in to the basket and the whole thing to follow her. “Which room is to be the boy’s?” 

 

Struggling to his feet rather awkwardly, trying not to jostle Harry, Remus nodded to the back wall. “Far left. It was mine when I was a boy.” 

 

Bustling forward across the narrow living room, McGonagall threw open the door of a small square bedroom. With a disapproving frown, she banished the dust and gave a thoughtful hum, before changing the little bed to a handsome dark wood crib and the desk to a matching change table. The wardrobe she magiced to match, and then she made the walls a clean beige and the window hangings a rich red. When the bedding and rug had been made to match the curtains she declared herself finished and placed the wicker basket of baby things firmly on the change table. 

 

“Right, almost done then. You settle Harry in to bed while I prepare the fidelius.” And she bustled off again, stopping briefly to turn one of the mismatched kitchen chairs in to a highchair. 

 

When Lupin found her next, McGonagall was standing in the garden, marking the property line with protective runes. “Ready dear?” she asked when she noticed him. 

 

“Yes. Professor?” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“Thank you.” Remus wasn’t sure if he managed to convey everything he was thanking her for, but he thought maybe he had, because Minerva walked back to him with a sad sort of smile and patted him on the shoulder. 

 

“Of course dear. Now we had best begin.”

...*...*...*...

 

_November 7th, 1981_

_Dumbledore,_

_While I was most pleased to hear from you, I'm afraid your letter has left me somewhat confused – there has been no recent addition to the Dursley family. Unless you want me to keep an eye on their own rather spoilt child, (Dudley, if I'm not mistaken,) I don't know what I can do for you at this junction, as he is the only child in the residence._

_Yours Always,_

_Arabella Figg_

 

...*....*...*...

 

"Hello, Minerva." 

 

Without glancing up from the essay she was marking, McGonagall responded pleasantly "Good evening, Albus." Gesturing to a comfortable chair across the desk from her, she summoned a tea tray and tin of biscuits. Albus nodded sedately and graciously accepted both the chair and a cup of tea, then deliberated over the biscuits, settling on a slice of millionaire's shortbread. 

 

"I had a most interesting letter from Arabella Figg today." 

 

"Really? I didn't think she was prone to becoming involved in events best described as interesting." 

 

"Indeed, I suppose she isn't. But she lives rather near Privet Drive, and I asked her to keep an eye on little Harry Potter." 

 

"And how is the boy?" 

 

"I have no idea, I'm afraid - Arabella says that there has been no new addition to the Dursley household. She assures me that little Harry Potter does not live at number four." McGonagall's vague noise in response could not be considered pleased nor displeased. "It seems that someone took the boy before the Dursleys awoke." 

 

"Well, a doorstep is hardly a secure place to leave an infant." 

 

"Perhaps. But that particular doorstep aught to be perfectly safe for Mr. Potter. His mother's blood dwells in that house and his aunt accepting him into the house would offer him the strongest possible protection." 

 

"Assuming that unpleasant woman even agreed to take him" McGonagall interjected with pursed lips. 

 

Bowing his head in acknowledgment, Dumbledore went on. "I believe she would have. But the point seems to be somewhat moot now. As only myself, Hagrid, and of course yourself knew where I was taking Harry, and Hagrid assures me that he neither revealed the location, nor took the child himself, I thought I would check with you. Can you perhaps offer me some insight in to where the boy may have gone?" 

 

"I'm afraid not, Albus." 

 

"I feel it important to impress how much danger the child might be in." 

 

"Oh, I feel certain that he's perfectly safe wherever he is, and without a doubt better looked after than he would have been with those muggles." 

 

"For now, I suppose I must accept that as well. However a time will come when I need to know everything. I certainly hope you are correct." Placing his cup delicately on the desk and standing with a graceful sweep of velvet robes glittering like the night sky, he offered McGonagall a small bow and finished "thank you for the tea Minerva." 

 

And with that McGonagall was left on her own, but she did not seem able to return to marking.


	2. Domestic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may find it useful to have my headcannons, so:
> 
> Remus was born in Scotland, but moved around a lot after he was bitten, before the family settled outside of a small Welsh town, where his mother worked as a secretary and his father worked as a large animals vet, repurposing his magical education to focus on non-magical animals and forging the paperwork to give himself muggle qualifications. The family also raised sheep.
> 
> Remus became friends with Lily immediately, but took longer to become friends with James, Sirius and Peter. From sixth year onwards, Remus and Sirius had an on-again-off-again relationship that wasn't particularly healthy but that both of them were deeply reliant on. I hope to address the history of their relationship and both of their childhoods in more depth in another story, but for now I'll only be dealing with what is present tense in this story, I think.

The first night, Harry slept under the influence of the dreamless sleep potion and Lupin dozed in his armchair with Harry on his lap. 

 

The second night neither Harry nor Lupin slept. Harry cried and cried. Or rather, he cried and screamed and whimpered alternatively. Lupin just cried, quietly, while whispering and singing comforting words to Harry through the tears. "I know, I miss them too" he repeated over and over when Harry's screams grew loudest. They both fell asleep sometime just before lunch and woke just in time for Lupin to feed them supper. 

 

By the fifth night Harry and Lupin fell asleep on the couch as the sun was rising, and Harry only cried and whimpered, without the screaming. Lupin still murmured "I miss them too" over an over. 

 

On the eighth night only Harry cried, though Lupin still missed them too. They were asleep on Lupin's bed by midnight. 

 

The ninth night was the full moon, so Remus spent it chained to the wall in the heavily warded cellar, howling his displeasure that his pack was missing, and Harry spent it crying and whimpering and generally making a mess of Minerva McGonagall's crisp tartan robes. Neither of them slept. 

 

The tenth night, Lupin slept straight through despite Harry's crying. He was simply too exhausted and ill from the transformation, and had not left the bed that day – instead McGonagall had sent the Deputy Head of Hogwarts' personal elf to force food upon Remus and mind the baby. Nobody noticed Jilpy's absence from the school, as McGonagall was perfectly used to doing things for herself and Jilpy spent most of her time in the kitchens with the other elves. As the personal elf of the Deputy Head, her loyalty was to the school first, then to (at least for now ) McGonagall, and only then to Dumbledore, so the elf could not tattle about what she was being sent to do, even if she had wanted to; as it happened, she was very happy to play nanny and delighted to have personal orders from her mistress. McGonagall thought her a safe enough confidant for the secret of Harry's location. 

 

So Remus spent the day dozing and reading quietly to Harry while the enthusiastic elf doted on her new charges, and when night fell Remus conjured railings around his bed and Jilpy brought Harry, with a bottle of milk charmed to stay warm and fresh, to the bed and settled him next to Remus. After summoning a variety of Harry's soft toys and a glass of water, she bowed herself out of the room and returned to Hogwarts. 

 

And Remus slept while Harry cried softly on Remus' chest for a while before he too drifted off, and it was only quarter to eleven by the time they were both breathing deeply.

 

...*...*...*...

 

A few days after the full moon, once Remus was back to his usual, not good health, precisely, but at least relative wellness, Minerva dropped by unannounced for supper. She brought with her a large envelope stuffed with papers and a delighted Jilpy, who scooped Harry up and set the table with a snap of her fingers. Looking stunned, Lupin took his seat at McGonagall's urging and accepted the steak, potatoes, and mushy peas that Jilpy piled on his plate and listened to the others talking. Jilpy joined them at the table, though she spent more time feeding Harry than herself. 

 

When everyone had finished eating and Jilpy had cleared away the plates and taken Harry off to play, McGonagall summoned the tea set and began unpacking the contents of her envelope. "I went to see Elphinstone yesterday and he was a great help. I've got here some paperwork that he rushed through for me – muggle death certificates for James and Lily, and the contact information for a very reputable squib lawyer who works all sorts of cases that don't really fit in to one world or the other, and Elphie says this chap owes him a favour." Here she passed two sheets of heavy paper and a very neatly designed business card bearing the name Damian Belby across the table to Remus. 

 

"Is that a ring?" Remus asked rather stupidly, staring at McGonagall's hand while he took the papers from her automatically. On her left ring finger was a delicate silver band with two small diamonds either side of a delicately cut ruby. 

 

"Indeed it is" Minerva said with a faint smile. "Elphinstone proposed again. I said yes." Giving her head a little shake, she looked away from the ring and went on "but that is really not important at the moment." 

 

"Congratulations Professor," Remus said with a grin that made him look almost healthy. 

 

"Minerva, dear. Now, have you decided what approach to becoming Harry's guardian you'd like to take?" 

 

"I think. Well, I think I'd like to adopt him. I wouldn't change his name or anything – he'll always be James and Lily's – but I don't want him thinking that I'm not happy to have him as my own." 

 

"I don't think there's any risk of that, but I do think James and Lily would be happy with that choice." She patted his hand across the table and smiled. "You still have the paperwork for the adoption, dear?" 

 

"Yes, certainly. Accio papers." 

 

"Well, you'd best get them filled out. You'll need to take them with you when you go to see Mr. Belby. He'll put through your petition to adopt once the court hears your petition for guardianship. As we don't have a will, it will have to be an open hearing, but I somehow doubt Lily's sister will petition for custody." She said this last bit with a very expressive sniff. "And I don't think that any wizarding families are likely to even know that the muggles have their own courts." 

 

"What about Dumbledore? Surely he'll be keeping an eye on things?" 

 

"I'm not sure. I'm certain he knows I took the boy, but not that I brought him to you. Even if he does, I think he would expect us both to think in wizarding terms. If he does keep tabs on us in the muggle world, Elphinstone assures me that he and Mr. Bilby will be able to pull some strings and get things rushed through so that Dumbledore won't have time to interfere. With a bit of luck, Dumbledore won't even notice."

 

...*...*...*...

 

Remus read the parenting books Minerva's brother had sent cover to cover. Then he read them again. And when he had returned to work, leaving Harry in Jilpy's care, he borrowed every book on child care, baby development, and early childhood education the small town library had to offer. When he had read each of those through twice, he wrote to Flourish & Blotts to enquire about any books they might have on the subject, and immediately ordered all four. 

 

Every one of the books agreed that Harry aught to be talking by now, at nearly twenty months. Nothing too impressive, but certainly a few words and perhaps even a phrase or two. Indeed, Harry had been happily shrieking for his "mama" even before Lily and James had gone in to hiding. 

 

Now though, Harry didn't say anything at all. He still cried and whimpered when he woke in the night, but mostly he just stayed unnaturally silent. Jilpy and Minerva agreed that he would outgrow it, but it worried Remus. Thankfully, it was the most worrying thing in Remus' life these days, which was a lovely feeling. 

 

For four months now, he would wake in the morning with Harry cuddled against him. They would get up and Remus would dress and feed the both of them, chatting away in hopes that Harry at least understood the words, even if he never repeated them back. At quarter to nine on Tuesdays through Saturdays Jilpy would appear with a sharp crack in the kitchen and Remus would walk to the edge of the wards and apparate to a narrow alley behind the library. He was at work by five to nine every morning. 

 

On Saturdays, Minerva would sometimes accompany Jilpy and they would stay for supper. Otherwise, Remus would return from work at ten past five and prepare supper for Harry and himself. He would bathe Harry and then they would settle down in Remus' bed to read until they both fell asleep. 

 

On Remus' days off, they would play in the garden and bake in the kitchen and read on the couch. McGonagall continued to watch Harry on the nights of the full moon and Jilpy would tend them both on the days after. Nobody at the Muggle library thought to connect Remus' frequent sick days or odd holiday days with the full moons. Despite everything that had happened, Remus thought he was happy, and he hoped that Harry was too.

 

...*...*...*...

 

When Minerva and Elphinstone married, it was in the bright sunlight of the garden of their new cottage in Hogsmeade. Malcom and Patricia arrived with Elphinstone, and Pamona Sprout arrived a few minutes later. Filius Flitwick officiated. When the guests were all standing in front of a beautiful flower covered arch, with Harry dressed in a tiny suit and glamoured to have blond hair and no scar, Minerva arrived with a crack of apparition, and Jilpy holding the train of her dress robes. 

 

Vows were exchanged, speeches were given, and champagne was drunk. Jilpy served tea with sandwiches and cakes. Harry smeared jam covered fingers on everyone present, and it was with happy hearts that the company flooed home at four that afternoon. 

 

...*...*...*...

 

It is not long at all before Minerva and Elphinstone are sitting in Remus' sunny garden with Jilpy serving cake. Harry's second birthday is a quiet affair, but those present enjoy themselves. Harry tore open presents in the warm grass and zoomed around the garden on his new toy broom. Minerva pronounced him a born seeker when he snatched a bumblebee from the air; Harry cried at the sting, but all three adults fussed over him, kissing and magicing the wound better. Harry was loved dearly. 

 

...*...*...*...

 

By the time Harry's fourth birthday had come and gone Remus had stopped expecting Harry to talk. He didn't even think much about it about it anymore, just assumed that Harry would speak in his own time. Occasionally, in the very early hours of the morning or during quiet lunch hours at work, the thought that perhaps the curse had left more scars than just the one on Harry's forehead bubbled up in the back of his mind. Mostly, he shoved these thoughts behind the same mental brick wall as thoughts of his own monstrous condition and his parents' funerals. 

 

It was rather a surprise, therefore, when Harry said thank you. It was Christmas Eve and the cottage was full of the smells of pine and cloved oranges, which Harry and Remus had made the day before. Harry was sat on the rug in front of the tree which they had just finished decorating with paper garlands and fairy lights. Remus, chatting idly, returned from the kitchen and joined Harry on the rug, at which point he handed a mug of hot chocolate to the boy he firmly considered his son. 

 

And Harry said "thank you, Papa." Remus dropped his own cocoa on the rug in surprise, but he cleaned it with a flick of his wand as he pulled Harry against him and whispered in to his hair. 

 

"You're welcome, my love."


	3. Moving On

By Harry’s fifth birthday his speaking no longer surprised Remus. He was still a quiet child, but he told stories and chatted about the bugs he had found in the garden over dinner, and Remus couldn’t detect any major developmental differences between Harry and the other children of his age whom he met at work.

Remus and Harry spent Harry’s fifth birthday at Minerva and Elphinstone’s, eating cake in the garden with Malcom, Patricia, their three children, Filius Flitwick, and Pamona Sprout. Everyone knew who Harry was and not one of them cared at this point – he was Remus’ son in every way that counted and they all thought it would a terrible thing to separate the two. Harry was being amused by the youngest of Malcom and Patricia’s children, a sixteen year old girl who insisted that nobody call her by her full name, Amelia. He was squealing with delight while she piggybacked him around the garden, causing Elphinstone’s carefully landscaped plants to hop out of her way.

Amelia’s older siblings, Lucas and Daniel, were sitting with the other adults while Jilpy fussed with tea.

“How’s retirement treating you, Elphie?” Malcom asked through a mouthful of lemon drizzle cake.

“Oh, grand! The garden has really been shaping up now I’ve got more time for it. Pamona here has been giving me some wonderful clippings! She’s offered me a clipping of her venomous tentacula – can’t wait to get it rooted and settled in. Over by the flutterby bushes, I think.”

“I think not!” Minerva interrupted in just the same tone she used on misbehaving students. “Elphinstone, you can’t seriously want to plant a deadly thing like that in the garden that Harry plays in!”

“Ah, right, sorry dear. Pamona, we may have to delay that particular cutting.”

“Honestly. Remus, do you have everything that Harry needs for school yet?”

“Yeah, I got everything last week. Let Harry choose what colours he wanted once I got it all home. He had a grand old time with that, and kept trying to make me change the uniform to fuchsia. He doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of a uniform yet,” Remus said laughingly. 

“Are you certain it’s safe for him at a muggle school?” Pamona asked worriedly.

“Well, it’s as safe as anywhere, at this point. Minerva and I have warded it to the best of our abilities, and there was an, ah, convenient opportunity for the previous school librarian to take a much better paying position in the city, so I’ll be there as librarian to keep an eye on him. Really, he shouldn’t be at any more risk than any other wizard born child attending a muggle primary.”

“I’m sure you’re right, dear, but I’d feel so much better if I could install a couple of protections of my own.”

“Well, you’re welcome to. In fact, the more variety of wards we can lay down the better, in my opinion.”

“Well in that case, I’d like to add a few of my own,” squeaked Filius.

“Aye, me too,” Marcus added.

At a tug on his robe sleeve, Remus peered down at Jilpy, who said in her high little voice “House Elves are having very strong protective magic, Master Remus. May Jilpy add her own wards to Young Master Potter?”

“Of course Jilpy. Thank you!”

It was with bellies full of tea and cake that Harry and Remus flooed home that evening, and Remus with his heart as light as it had been since Harry had first started talking. As thrilled as Remus had been to see his son back on track with his development, the realisation that Harry would need to attend school after his fifth birthday had been a gnawing fear for the last six months. With Pamona and Filius laying wards around the school and Jilpy’s elf magic protecting Harry, the prospect didn’t seem so frightening.

…*…*…*…

Harry’s first day of school went about as eventfully as any five-year-old’s. He met lots of new children, and he liked his teacher, a Mrs. Rees. And, most importantly, he didn’t say a word about magic. 

His Papa had made it very clear that he mustn’t tell his classmates about the dishes doing themselves, or the fact that Auntie Min could turn in to a cat, or Jilpy at all. In fact, the list of things that were “family secrets” was quite long and Harry couldn’t be sure he remembered all of them, but he was fairly sure he hadn’t mentioned anything he wasn’t supposed to. 

When Remus came to pick him up at 3:00, Harry gleefully introduced his new friends Evan and Christine and then chattered happily on the way back to the school library, where Remus had found a disused cupboard ideal for aparating from.

That night they ate dinner with Jilpy and Minerva and Harry was sent to bed, exhausted, at 7:30.

…*…*…*…

Harry had been at school for five months before a problem presented itself. As Remus collected Harry one day after class, Harry asked if Evan could come over for dinner. Flustered, Remus had said “I’m sorry darling, but tonight’s not a good night. Maybe next week?” Harry, disappointed, had agreed and they had apparated home. 

Immediately, Remus sent an owl to Minerva to get her opinion – it wasn’t fair to deprive Harry of playmates, but was it safe to remove the fidelius from the house? Minerva’s reply came promptly, in the form of her tall frame unfurling itself from his fireplace. Harry ran to her and was hugged soundly before being sent off to play, while the adults settled in front of the fire with tea and biscuits. 

“You’re right of course, Harry needs the chance to have friends, but I worry about our ability to ward the house soundly enough on our own. I’m sure Pamona and Filius would be happy to lend a hand, but I hesitate to have the wards on his school and the wards here be too similar. I think it might be time to ask for Dumbledore’s help.”

“Sorry?”

“Well, he’s always assumed I took Harry, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that you have him. And I’ve had Elphie and that lawyer Belby have a look at the legality of it all, and we’re certain there are no legal grounds for him to remove Harry from your custody. I’ve thought we might encounter a problem that we needed his help with for a while now, so I wanted to be certain everything was lined up nicely. Belby assures me that your muggle adoption is fully legal and can’t be challenged in the wizarding courts, so we’re safe there. Besides, there is very little chance that the blood wards on Lily’s sister’s house could be activated successfully after this long anyways, so Dumbledore ought to see reason.”

Minerva paused here and seemed to expect a response, so Remus took a quick sip of tea, burned his tongue, and mumbled “Ah, right…”

Taking this as sufficient acknowledgment, Minerva continued. “If you don’t object, I’ll approach Albus tomorrow. Knowing him, I suspect he may have… requirements. Possibly the chance to give Harry private lessons, or choose wizarding playmates for him. Before I give Albus your location I will check with you on any of his requirements, but I don’t suppose that a few hours a month spent with Albus will harm the boy.” 

With that, Minerva changed the subject while Remus sat quietly and thought about how much influence over Harry he was comfortable with Dumbledore having. The old man had made it possible for Remus to have an education, friends, everything really. But those friends were gone now, and Remus’ priority was Harry. 

…*…*…*…

On Harry’s sixth birthday, for the first time ever, he had a party with children his own age to play with. Evan and Christine from school joined Ron and Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom for muggle party games, cake, and presents. The assorted parents, along with Minerva and Elphinstone, watched the children play with fond smiles. 

As Minerva had predicted, Dumbledore insisted that Harry have playmates from an Order affiliated family and Occlumency lessons twice monthly with Dumbledore. As it happened, neither of these things had been bad – the Occlumency was helping enormously with Harry’s nightmares, and Harry and Ron had quickly become fast friends. Neville and Ginny had both begun to overcome their shyness as well, and Malcom and Patricia’s eldest had gotten married just the week before with Harry as the Ring Bearer, without his needing a glamour. 

Life was treating Remus and Harry well.


	4. Rat

On Ron’s birthday, Harry and Remus were invited for the party. Harry ran off to play Quidditch with the other children and Remus sat with Molly and Arthur. Soon they were joined by Percy, who at ten was anxiously awaiting his birthday in six months and the accompanying Hogwarts letter. He was a quiet child who had more interest in sitting quietly with the adults and feeding his pet rat crumbs.

His pet rat who, Remus noticed, was missing a finger. And, come to think of it, who had a marking just below his left ear that looked awfully familiar. Actually, Remus thought, that rat looks an awful lot like Wormtail.

“Ah, Percy, would you mind if I had a look at your rat?”

“Of course, si – Ow! He bit me!” Percy exclaimed as he let go of the suddenly furiously squirming rat. 

On instinct, Remus sprang off his chair and got one fist around the rat in a move his muscles had never forgotten from his school days. Conjuring a cage and stuffing the rat inside, Remus stood and said curtly, “Arthur, would you mind coming in to the kitchen with me for a moment?”

In the kitchen Remus summoned Jilpy and asked her to fetch Minerva and Albus with urgency. Then he explained – he explained about his friends becoming animagi, and about the shocking resemblance between Percy’s rat and Wormtail, and about the missing front toe. When he had finished his explanations, the rat was petrified, the cage banished, and Peter Pettigrew discovered on Molly Weasley’s kitchen table. 

…*…*…*…

The following weeks were hectic – Peter Pettigrew was tried and sentenced for being a Death Eater and for the murders of thirteen muggles. Sirius Black was finally given a trial and found not guilty on all counts, except that of being an illegal animagus, but time already unjustly served was considered more than sufficient reparations for that charge. He was released on the first Monday in May, with the Ministry’s sincere apologies and a decent sum of settlement money.

The Ministry was in turmoil, with Barty Crouch facing investigations and the Minister facing a vote of No Confidence, but Remus Lupin wasn’t paying much attention to the goings on at the Ministry anymore – he was a little busy having Sirius Black in his living room, trying to find James in the almost seven year old Harry (who was reading one of Remus’ old Transfiguration texts) and drinking all of Remus’ good tea.

“Harry, why don’t you show Uncle Sirius your broom?”

“Alright Papa. Can you come and watch me fly too?”

“Of course, love. Go on and get your trainers on and grab your broom.”

“Okay, Papa.” With that Harry dashed off to his bedroom, leaving Remus and Sirius alone for the first time since Sirius’ release.

“Quiet kid, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’s never talked much. Didn’t talk at all until he was four, actually.”

“But he likes flying?”

“Oh yeah, he’s a natural. Minerva and Elphinstone bought him his training broom for his second birthday.”

“He’s still on a training broom?”

“He’s seven, Sirius, of course he’s still on a training broom.”

“I had my dad’s old Commit by then!”

“And I suppose you view your father as a glowing example of parenting now?”

“Well, no, but the kid’s old enough for a proper broom, Mooney!”

“No, he’s not. He’s tiny for his age, and a reckless flier besides. He’s not getting a proper broom until he’s at least nine. Maybe ten, if he doesn’t have a growth spurt before then.”

It was then that Harry reappeared, dark hair tousled and his trainers untied. “Ready, Munchkin?” Remus asked fondly, and Harry dashed to the front door, nodding. 

…*…*…*…

That first full moon after Sirius’ release was the easiest Remus could remember since school. Having Padfoot made such a difference. Harry stayed over at Minerva and Elphinstone’s so that Mooney and Padfoot could run wild through the woods near the Lupin house. Sirius stayed the next night, to help Lupin recover. Then he stayed the night after that because Lupin still wasn’t up to full health and he ignored Jilpy’s protests that she had everything under control. He stayed the night after that because Harry had come down with a fever while Remus still wasn’t up to full health. He stayed the night after that because he had caught Harry’s fever. Somewhere along the line Sirius ran out of excuses for staying the night, but he didn’t stop staying. And at some point he stopped staying on the couch and started staying in Remus’ bed, first curled at the foot as Padfoot, then human shaped and sprawled next to Remus. One morning when Harry woke very early and went to crawl in to bed with his Papa, he found Uncle Sirius kissing Papa and crept back to his own room on quiet, sock padded feet.

When July came, Remus feared he might be too ill to attend his son’s birthday celebrations, with the full moon only two days before. However, with Padfoot there and Jilpy to nurse him the next morning, he was well enough to sit in a comfortable lawn chair with a blanket over his lap and watch the children play. When Sirius was the only guest remaining, and he was really only a guest in theory at this point, Harry asked Remus if he could get his broom and practice flying. 

“Actually, Harry,” Sirius interrupted, “I have one more present for you before you take to the skies. Couldn’t really give it to you with the muggles about. Accio Harry’s birthday present.”

Out of the kitchen window shot a long thin package, wrapped in bright blue paper with animated snitches zooming about it. Sirius handed it to Harry, who excitedly tore open to wrapping to reveal a box emblazoned **Quality Quidditch Supplies** , which Harry pulled open to reveal a brand new Cleansweap. 

With the sort of enthusiasm only an eight year old can muster, Harry shrieked “thank you Uncle Sirius,” and threw himself at his godfather, who was no longer so gaunt that Harry's enthusiasm might hurt him. Without asking further permission, Harry mounted the new broom and took off.

“Harry, wait!” Remus objected from his chair, but the boy was already too high to hear. “Sirius, I thought I told you he’s too young for a proper broom!”

“Oh he’s fine, Mooney, stop fretting! You’re like someone’s old mother these days.”

“Well, I _am_ someone’s old father, and I told you that someone wasn’t getting a broom until he turned nine.”

“Look, he’s a natural! How could you deny him that sort of fun?”

“Because it isn’t safe, Sirius.”

Oblivious to the adults arguing below Harry flew on, higher and higher, taking his hands off the handle in a triumphant pose, until a sharp gust of wind caught the slight child an lifted him from his broom. Sirius, facing Remus and arguing his point, didn’t see Harry start to topple towards the ground. Remus, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of Harry saw every second of the fall but was too slowed by his recent transformation to get his wand out his sleeve and manage a cushioning charm.

With shock, Remus saw Harry hit the ground, catching the fall on one arm that was almost certainly broken. Scrambling up as fast as he could, Remus knelt beside his son and checked for a pulse with shaking fingers. He found one, and called for Jilpy, who appeared with a pop. “Jilpy, please, can you bring Madam Pomfrey?”

Later, when Harry’s arm had been set and healed, Sirius came to kiss him goodnight. He said he was sorry and that he would see him soon. Then he spoke to Remus, and flooed away. He didn’t spend the night. Or the next one. Or the one after that.


	5. Celebrations

By the time Harry started school again his arm was healed and no muggle doctor would ever have been able to detect the fracture. But Uncle Sirius still wasn’t around so much, and Harry only saw him twice in September. On Halloween Sirius visited, bringing pumpkin pasties and muggle sweets, but Harry noticed that everything in the huge cardboard cauldron was things his dad allowed anyways. Sirius sat on the couch in Lupin’s living room, sharing Harry’s sweets and reading to his godson from Quidditch Through the Ages (the only book that Sirius could be persuaded to read to Harry,) while Lupin absently cleaned the already perfectly neat kitchen. Suddenly Harry sat up and asked “Uncle Sirius, when’s your birthday?”

“November third.”

“But that’s in three days! I haven’t got you a present yet!”

“Ah, you don’t need to get me anything Prongslett. I’m too old for proper birthdays these days.”

“But Papa and Auntie Min always have birthday lunches! Did you have birthday lunches while you were away when I was little?” 

“No, Harry, I didn’t,” Sirius said with a sad sort of laugh. Remus had decided that Harry would get the whole story before he went to Hogwarts, but not much before then, and Sirius wasn’t inclined to argue the point – after the broom incident he was down to two or three supervised visits with Harry a month and he didn’t want things to get worse. Indeed, Remus had promised that if he proved himself responsible enough, then he would be welcome in Harry’s life on his own terms again. And perhaps, if he was very good, in Remus’ as well.

Turning to the kitchen, Harry addressed his dad. “Papa, please can we plan a birthday lunch for Uncle Sirius? He hasn’t had a birthday since he came back!”

Looking questioningly at Sirius, who shrugged apologetically, Remus nodded and turned back to his son. “Yes, I think that’s a lovely idea Harry. How thoughtful of you. Who do you think we should invite?”

…*…*…*…

As the 3rd was a Friday, Sirius’ birthday lunch was pushed until Saturday. At noon, Lupin’s floo came to life as first Minerva, then Elphinstone stepped on to the hearth rug and brushed dust from their cloaks. They were followed by Molly Weasley, who had Ron at her side and a huge cake tin in her hand. Last was Andromeda Tonks and her husband Ted. 

Lunch was served at Remus’ rather cramped dining table, and Jilpy’s cooking received much praise, but the children soon tired of the adults and ran off to play. With a game of gobstones underway between them, Harry casually broached a subject that had been occupying him for months now – “Ron, do your mum and dad kiss?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sometimes I guess,” Ron said with a shrug. “Why?”

“Well, I saw my Papa kiss Uncle Sirius, before I broke my arm. I thought maybe, if you know how your mum and dad kiss, you could tell me so I could see if it was the same as how they kissed. I think maybe they’re in love.”

“But they’re both blokes!”

“I don’t think that matters. When Uncle Sirius came back, Papa brought out some old photos, and one of them that I don’t think he meant to show me was just them, in their Hogwarts uniforms, and they keep kissing in that picture. I asked Auntie Min about it, and she said that sometimes men love men and women love women and that’s alright.”

“Huh, okay then. I still don’t see why you need to know how my parents kiss, though.”

“Well, I think maybe Uncle Sirius wants to be my dad. Not like, replacing Papa, but like a second dad, I guess. Only I’m not sure, because I don’t know how parents normally kiss, so I can’t tell if Papa and Uncle Sirius kiss like parents. I can’t even tell if they kiss at all anymore, since I wasn’t supposed to see them kiss the first time, and it was months ago. I think Papa is mad a Sirius, because he hasn’t been sleeping over.”

“Well, when my mum and dad kiss, mostly it’s just quick, when Dad gets home from work. Sometimes, if they think all of us have gone to bed, they kiss longer, and more… loudly. It sort of sounds slimy,” Ron said with a wrinkled nose. “At Christmas, they kiss under the Mistletoe, and then it’s sort of long, and mum makes this little noise, like she’s sighing, but she’s happy. So I guess we could try and get your dad to kiss Sirius, and see if it’s any of those kinds of kisses?”

“Yeah, that could work! Christmas isn’t so far away – we could get them to kiss under the mistletoe.”

“Yeah, that’d work. Mum always hangs mistletoe at the entrance to the kitchen, so all we’d need to do is get one of them to go in to the kitchen at the same time as we got the other one to leave the kitchen!”

The boys plotting was interrupted by Remus calling them for present time, where Harry sat on Sirius’ lap while he presented him with a large box of chocolate frogs and a book on dog grooming, Harry’s choice of which had made Remus laugh so hard he cried. Sirius laughed too, and Harry was happier than he had been since his birthday, now that he had a plan and a large slice of Mrs. Weasley’s chocolate cake.

 

…*…*…*…

 

After Sirius’ birthday, Christmas came quickly. To Harry’s irritation, it was decided that he and Remus would go to Minerva and Elpinstone’s, along with Malcom, Patricia, and their children, while Sirius would be joining his cousin Andromeda, her husband Ted, and their sixteen year old daughter Nymphadora. Ron would be at the burrow with his family, including his brother Bill who was coming home for the holiday from Egypt, where he had just begun working as a curse breaker.

Sill, Harry and Ron had the opportunity to put their plan in to action at the Weasley’s annual Christmas party. With Ginny’s help, Ron lured Sirius in to the kitchen under the pretense of needing help with some dishes they were helping clear away, and Harry dragged his papa by the hand to the kitchen, saying excitedly that there was something he had to show him. Just as Sirius walked through the wide archway to rejoin the party, Remus was dragged unceremoniously through it in the opposite direction. Ginny, thoroughly briefed on her role, squealed happily that “mistletoe means you’ve gotta kiss him, Uncle Remus!”

Looking uncomfortable, Sirius stammered that he wasn’t sure Uncle Remus wanted to be kissed. Harry piped up, “but Ginny’s right – mistletoe means you have to! Go on Papa!”

Looking amused at the children’s antics, Remus reached out and offered his hand to Sirius, who took it and let himself be pulled in close. They kissed softly, before breaking apart. The children were all watching intently. Then they all looked at each other and made to dash off. “Wait, Harry, what did you want to show me?” Remus called after his son.

“Um, I forgot!” Harry called back, already halfway to the stairs, with Ron and Ginny in tow. 

Suspicion began to bubble up – those children were plotting something. He just wasn’t sure what.

…*…*…*…

Safely ensconced in Ginny’s room, which was closest, the three children settled on the floor to discuss what they had just seen.

“So,” Harry began, “do you think they kissed like your mum and dad do?”

“Well, Uncle Remus definitely made that odd sort of happy sighing noise mum makes.”

“Yeah, and Sirius put his hands round Remus’ waist just like dad does to mum.”

“So you think they kiss like a proper mum and dad?”

“Yeah, I’d say so.”

“So, do you guys think Sirius wants to be my second dad then?”

“I guess so. I mean,” here Ginny looked a little shy, “I asked mum once, about her and dad and why they kiss, and she said it was because they love each other…”

“So you think uncle Sirius and my papa love each other?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

At this the kids fell silent, thinking. Eventually Ron said he was hungry, and asked if the other two wanted to go get some more food from the party. They agreed, and Remus and Sirius had to scamper quickly away from Ginny's door, where they had been listening at the keyhole to the children talk, and out of sight before the kids opened the door.

Standing on the next landing up from Ginny’s room, Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes. It looked like he had two uncomfortable conversations he needed to have tonight. Looking up at Sirius, who was nervously scratching the back of his head, Remus sighed again and figured he had better get started.


	6. Conversations

“Are they right?”

“What?”

“The children, are they right? Do you want to be Harry’s second dad?”

“I… uh, well… yeah, I suppose I do.”

“And by that do you mean that you want to help raise Harry, or do you mean that you want to share my bed?”

“Both,” Sirius said with an uncomfortable shrug. “More than that though, too. I want Harry to look at me the same way he looks at you, like you’re the safest place in the world, and I want him to feel like he can come to me when he has a nightmare, and I want him to like me…”

Here Remus raised a hand to stop Sirius. “Do you want those things from Harry, or do you want them from James, Sirius?”

“From Harry!”

“Are you certain? Because for all that Harry loves flying, and certainly looks like James, he’s a very different kid. Do you even know what his favourite subject at school is?”

“I… He likes Maths, doesn’t he?”

“No Sirius, he doesn’t. Do you even know what he studies at school?” Sirius looked guiltily at his shoes, and Remus continued with a shake of his head, “he loves muggle History and Science, but his favourite is Geography, Sirius. He’s brilliant at cooking and Chemistry, and seems to have inherited Lily’s flair for potion making. Last week, he started reading _1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi_ because he wanted to. He has a dozen atlases that Minerva and I have bought him over the years, and his most prised possession is a stuffed Snitch charmed to be used with a training broom during the day and snuggled at night. His first words after Lily and James died were ‘thank you, Papa.’ Harry has been the absolute light of my life for eight years now, and I won’t let you hurt him by trying to make him be James.”

Sirius remained silent for quite a while. Finally, he said “I’m sorry Mooney. I was out of line with the broom, and I haven’t given Harry the attention he deserves. Azkaban was… hard. Knowing Peter was out there, knowing Lily and James weren’t. With the Dementors around, I couldn’t think about much other than how guilty I felt and how much I missed James. When I got out, and I saw you with Harry, I saw a second chance, an opportunity to make it up to James. I should have seen Harry as his own person, and I should have recognized that you weren’t the same kid as I had spent seven years missing. I’ve been way out of line, and I’m sorry Mooney. And I really hope that you might be willing to give me a second chance. Or third, or fourth chance, as the case may be, given the way we left things after school. Remus, I want to be a part of your life, and I want to be a part of Harry’s life, and I’m willing to do both on your terms.”

“That’s… very mature of you, Sirius.” A grin that Sirius hadn’t seen since their school days, when he and Remus had enjoyed a tumultuous on again, off again relationship, appeared on Remus’ face. “I think maybe you’re finally growing up.” He reached out a hand to Sirius, who took it, and was pulled in to a gentle kiss. Arms at each other’s waists and Sirius’ head tucked against Remus’ neck while he cried silently, they stood on that landing for quite a while. Finally, Remus spoke again. “It’s late, Padfoot, and I need to get Harry home. Tonight, I need to talk to Harry. Come round tomorrow for breakfast and we can discuss terms.” With a final chaste kiss, Remus detangled himself and went down to the party to find his son, leaving Sirius to cry - in relief that he would be allowed in Harry’s life, in happiness at having Remus back, and with the grief he had never really let himself feel for loosing James, Lily, and Peter.

…*…*…*…

After thanking Molly and Arthur, and extracting Harry from a lively game of Exploding Snap with Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Neville, Remus flooed home. 

“Would you like a cup of cocoa Harry?”

“Yes please” Harry said happily.

“Go and get your jammies on then, and I’ll have it ready in a moment.”

When the little family reconvened on the sofa minutes later, Remus said quietly “Harry, how do you feel about Uncle Sirius?”

Confused and slightly nervous, Harry replied “he’s fun. He likes flying, and he knows lots of silly spells.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Remus said with a soft laugh. “But Harry, do you want him to be your dad?” Harry squirmed uncomfortably and focused on his bare feet. “Harry, darling, I know what you and Ron and Ginny were talking about, and I’m not mad. I genuinely want to know how you feel about Uncle Sirius.”

After a minute more of uncomfortable silence, Harry started talking very quickly, to his toes. “You didn’t get as sick when Uncle Sirius was sleeping over, and I think you were happier when you were kissing him. I like having him around too, but I don’t want you to stop being my papa.”

“Oh, darling, I’ll never stop being your papa. Even when you’re grown up, with kids of you own, I’ll still be your papa, and I will always love you to the moon and back. Come here, love.” Reaching out his arm, Remus pulled Harry close, and despite being a bit too big for it now, Harry curled on to Remus’ lap, wrapped in Remus’ arms, with his head on his papa’s chest. They sat quietly like that until Harry’s breathing slowed. Then, without moving, Remus spoke again. “Harry, do you want Uncle Sirius and I to be a couple, like Molly and Arthur?”

“I don’t know. I want you to be happy,” came the quiet reply.

“Oh, Harry, I am happy. You make me so happy, darling, and I don’t need Sirius to be happy. But I have cared about him for a very long time now, and he cares about both of us too. He wants to be a part of our lives, but we get to decide how much a part of our lives we want him to be. For example, how do you feel about me kissing Sirius?”

“It’s icky,” Harry giggled, “but it makes you happy, so I’m alright with it.”

“And how do you feel about Sirius staying here overnight?”

“I don’t mind it. He makes good pancakes in the morning.”

“Alright then, how about this: for now, Sirius can stay over on Friday and Saturday nights, and make us pancakes in the mornings, and I can kiss him, but I’ll try to do it when you aren’t in the room.”

“Alright… Papa, does that mean that Sirius is my new daddy?”

“That’s entirely up to you. You can call him whatever you like, but he doesn’t expect you to call him Dad. I think Uncle Sirius is still just fine.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now that’s settled, think it’s time for bed. Sirius will come over tomorrow, for breakfast, and we can discuss all this with him. And if we find that everything is working out, and Sirius doesn’t do anything irresponsible, we can revisit the subject in a few months. For now, bed.”

“Papa, can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“Sure darling.” And with that Remus stood, keeping Harry cradled in his arms, and took them both off to bed.


	7. Diagon Alley

By Harry’s ninth birthday, things have settled in to a new pattern for Harry and Remus. On Fridays after school, Sirius floos over for supper and board games, or a walk, or whatever else the trio feel like doing. On Saturday morning Sirius makes pancakes, and goes flying in the garden with Harry, who got his Commet back after Minerva applied some height and speed restriction charms. Minerva and Elphinstone, or sometimes Malcom and Patricia, or Molly, Arthur, Ron, Ginny, and the twins, or Neville and his Grandmother, or one of Harry’s muggle friends and their parents come round for Saturday lunch. After lunch, more flying, or reading, or games of wizard’s chess, or outings to muggle museums and attractions. Sundays are spent quietly, and full moons are a little easier on Remus with Padfoot around again. 

September rolls in with yellow leaves and fog, and the Weasley twins head off for Hogwarts. 

By Christmas, Sirius spends Monday nights too, and he’s over for dinner on Wednesdays as well.

When Harry’s tenth birthday comes, Sirius has really just moved in. He still keeps a little flat in muggle London, but he only sleeps there once every couple of weeks. Harry and Remus both like having him around, but Harry has never stopped calling him Uncle Sirius. 

It seems very quickly indeed to all of them that the time came for Harry to finish muggle Primary school, and explain to his friends that he’ll be attending a boarding school in Scotland, and he’ll write to them, but he isn’t allowed a telephone there. The beginning of summer is spent on muggle outings with Evan and Christine, and Quidditch in the Weasley’s orchard with Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and often a reluctant Neville, and a rather oblivious girl from a few houses over named Luna. Ginny had proved a natural talent for flying years ago, and nobody ever tried to keep her off the pitch, but Neville and Luna were both terrible, so they were put on the same team in hopes that together they might manage to equal a decent player. Occasionally an older boy named Cedric, from the other side of the village, would join them too. Harry enjoyed these games most, because while Ginny was a decent seeker, Cedric was an excellent one who offered some real competition and Ginny could play Chaser, her favorite and best position.

Finally July 31st came, and with it Harry’s Hogwart’s letter. Excited beyond belief, Harry had a very hard time not mentioning Hogwarts or magic at his birthday party later that day, at which his muggle friends were present. As they were wrapping up, Remus invited the Weasleys and the Longbottoms to join them in Diagon Alley on the coming Saturday. 

Harry had never before been allowed to visit the Alley. Remus had explained when he was seven that Harry’s parents had been killed by a very bad wizard when he was a baby, and his escape had made him very famous. He had explained that his fame made it unsafe for Harry in heavily wizard populated areas, where he might be recognized. Harry, not sure he believed all this, had gone to Ron and Ginny, who had shrugged and said that, yes, they had known his name since they could talk, just like every wizarding kid, but their mum had forbidden them from asking him about his scar or his fame.

The day after Harry’s birthday, Remus explained everything. Harry did not like the idea of being famous for something that he didn’t remember, nor the idea that the rest of the wizarding world celebrated the day his mum and dad had died. Everything about it made him uncomfortable, and he felt terrible that Sirius had spent all those years locked up in Azkaban for something he didn’t do. Remus pulled him close, and gave him hot cocoa despite the warm weather, and they sat for a long time curled around each other while Sirius sat pensively in a nearby chair. Finally, Sirius stood up abruptly and grabbed an old photo album off the bookshelf, opening it and flipping through to a picture of James with his hair and eyebrows charmed bright yellow, while Remus stood nearby looking shocked at his own daring, and Sirius laughed so hard he was holding himself up on a nearby wall. He started telling the story of how James had been teasing Remus for being made prefect and Remus had responded with a tidy bit of human transfiguration. Then he flipped to another page, and another photo, and told another story. This went on for several hours, and by the time dinner rolled around, all three of them were in high spirits once more, even if they did all feel a sort of ache where missing James and Lily had never gone away.

…*…*…*…

By Saturday morning, Harry was a bundle of excited nerves, and 11am found him standing on the steps of Gringotts with Sirius, Remus, Neville, and the Weasleys, completely incapable of holding still. Everything was bright and flashy and full of magic and Harry wanted to see everything. It was agreed that Remus and Sirius would take the first years to get wands, robes, cauldrons, and telescopes while Molly and Arthur took Ginny and the older kids to get the things they needed for their elective classes, before they would all meet at Flourish and Blotts to get school books, then head to the apothecary for potions ingredients. 

On their way to Olivander’s the pointing and whispering started. People had spotted Harry’s scar. After a truly uncomfortable visit with the wand maker, where Harry received the twin wand to Voldemort’s own, Neville got a 13” cherry and unicorn hair wand, and Ron awkwardly mumbled that he had his brother Charlie’s old wand and wouldn’t be needing one, the five of them set off again, and this time one stranger came up and shook Harry’s hand while the boy tried to step behind his papa and disappear from view. Getting robes and the rest of their uniforms from Madam Malkin’s went uneventfully enough, though she looked almost apologetic when Ron asked to have some of Pecy’s old robes altered instead of buying new ones. Buying cauldrons was less successful, as Mr. Pottage himself came bustling out from behind the counter to shake Harry’s hand and thank him, to Harry's immense discomfort. After getting a telescope (Neville had his father’s old one, and Ron had Charlie’s) Harry was thankful to meet back up with the others – in such a large group he could sort of hide in the middle, shielded from overzealous well-wishers by the sheer number of Weasleys. 

In Flourish and Blotts Harry got his school books, along with a couple of other titles he thought looked interesting and Remus didn’t own, including _Magical Villages Across, England, Scotland, Wales, and Europe; It’s Not Magic – Chemical Reactions for the Potioneer;_ and _Modern Magical History_ , since Harry knew from previous reading that _A History of Magic_ only covered up to Grindlewald’s war, missing all more recent magical discoveries and the history of the war with You-Know-Who. Next they went to the apothecary, where Ron and Neville got standard first year potions kits, and Harry stocked up on things his own kit, which Remus had bought him for his ninth birthday to stop him using his, was running low on. Harry also bought a few new ingredients he had been itching to try out. While underage wizards weren't really supposed to be brewing outside of school, Harry was a stubborn child and Remus figured it was best he mess about with potions ingredients with adult supervision, rather than being told he wasn't allowed and doing dangerous things while Remus wasn't on hand. Finally, they all went to Fortesque’s for an ice cream. By the time he said goodbye to the Weasleys and Neville, Harry was exhausted, both from the excitement of the day and from the constant stares and whispers. 

That night, he woke up from strange nightmares, something that hadn’t happened much since he started practicing Occlumency with Professor Dumbledore. Strange witches and wizards kept approaching him, and when he turned to take his papa’s hand, his papa was very far away down the street. Harry took off running towards him, but he wouldn’t get any closer, and all of these strangers were chasing him. When he awoke, breathing hard, he scrambled out of bed and went to curl up between Remus and Sirius, where he spent the rest of the night soundly asleep.


	8. School

It felt like no time at all before Remus and Sirius were saying goodbye to Harry on Platform 9¾. Harry, excited and nervous, found a compartment with Neville and Ron and tucked his trunk away, before running back on to the platform and throwing himself at Remus for a long hug. He hugged Sirius too, promised to be good, and boarded the train, only to return with mere minutes to spare, saying that he needed money for sweets, before hugging his papa tightly again and almost forgetting the sickles he had requested. 

On the train, Ron and Neville began a game of chess, while Harry took out _It’s Not Magic – Chemical Reactions for the Potioneer._ Before long a girl with very bushy brown hair and rather prominent teeth poked her head in and asked if she could join them.

“Sure. I’m Harry, and this is Ron and Neville.”

“I’m Hermione. It’s nice to meet you. Are you familiar with chemistry?” Hermione asked, gesturing at Harry’s book.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I went to muggle primary school, even though my dad’s a wizard. He works as a muggle librarian for some reason, not actually sure why... Are you muggle born then? I don’t think I’ve ever met a wizard born kid familiar with chemistry…”

“Yes, I’m the first in my family to have magic. It was all rather a shock when the letter came – my parents were ever so surprised! I’ve read all the school books, of course, and a few others I picked up for some leisure reading, so I hope I won’t be too far behind, but I’m sure there’s loads for me to catch up on!”

“Eh, you’ll be fine. There’s lots of muggle born kids, and just having read the textbooks you’re ahead of Ron,” Harry said with a grin

Hermione gave Ron a look of distaste and said “ah, well, that’s a relief” with a degree of sarcasm that made Ron’s ears turn pink.

The mood in the carriage was relieved by the timely arrival of the woman with the candy trolley, from whom Harry bought half a dozen chocolate frogs, a handful of licorice wands, four pumpkin pasties, and a little bag of fizzing whizbies. “Help yourself” he said to the others while opening a chocolate frog. “Hermione, you should really try some of these things – they're wizarding classics, and they're much more fun than muggle candies.”

“I’m not really supposed to have sweets – my parents are dentists…”

“Well, as long as you brush your teeth really well tonight it’ll be fine. Besides, you can just think of it as a cultural experience.”

Hermione perked up at that and said “thank you, Harry” before opening a pumpkin pasty. 

As the pile of candy dwindled conversation turned first to Quidditch (which interested Ron and Harry primarily), then to the geography of Magical Britain (which interested only Harry and Hermione), and finally to which house the children expected to be in. Hermione felt that Ravenclaw or Gryffindor would be best, while Ron figured he’d probably end up in Gryffindor like the rest of his family, though he was less keen on that idea if Hermione would be there too. Neville said rather sadly that his Gran expected him to be Gryffindor like his father, but that he’d probably wind up in Hufflepuff.

“Nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!” Harry piped up. “Sirius’ cousin Dora was in Hufflepuff, and she’s starting Auror training this year. She’s great!” Harry had met the metamorphagus at his birthday that year, and he was fascinated by her Auror training.

It was then that a very pale boy with blonde hair and two thuggish bookends opened the door and gave Harry an appraising look.

“So it’s true then, you’re Harry Potter?”

“Uh, yeah… And you are?” Harry said rather uncomfortably, while Hermione gasped in recognition of his name.

“Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle. We’ve an empty space in our carriage, if you’d like to join us and get away from these…” his eyes swept the carriage, “less prestigious sorts. I know you were whisked off to live in isolation or whatever after the Dark Lord killed your parents, but you can do better than a Weasley and a Longbottom.” He paused and gave Hermione a nasty look, “and whatever you are. Come sit with the right sort, Potter.”

“I’m already sitting with the right sort, thanks,” Harry said with disgust. “Stop inflicting your presence on us, so that I can continue to sit with the right sort in peace.”

Three things happened very quickly then – Ron and Malfoy both drew their wands, Percy Weasley came in to the corridor, and Neville’s toad Trevor leapt at Malfoy. Flailing to avoid the toad, Malfoy stepped on Crabbe’s toe, who yelped in surprise and smacked in to Percy as he stepped back.

“Everything alright here?” Percy asked with an air of thinking it probably wasn’t.

“That toad attacked me!” Malfoy said loudly.

“A toad attacked you? I find that highly improbable. Please move along.”

Grumbling but unable to do much with a prefect on hand Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle slunk off back to their carriage and the rest of the train journey passed peacefully. 

…*…*…*…

In the end, all four of the children from that compartment went in to Gryffindor. When they were settled and food had appeared, Harry looked at the head table and caught his Auntie Min’s eye – she smiled proudly back, and Harry also received a smile and a wink from the headmaster, and a cheery wave from the huge gamekeeper, who had introduced himself as Hagrid at the train station, and informed Harry that he had known him as a baby. Unfortunately he also got a sharp and sudden headache when he caught the eye of a sour looking professor with greasy black hair. He didn’t dwell on the grumpy man though, because there were Yorkshire puddings to be eaten.

By the next morning, Harry had forgotten about the odd pain, and ate eggs and bacon with great enthusiasm while awaiting both his class schedule and the morning post. The post came first, and Harry happily saw Remus’ owl come swooping above the tables before she dropped a letter on Harry’s plate, ate his last slice of bacon, and flew off again. Harry read:

_Harry,_

_Congratulations on making Gryffindor! Sirius and I are so proud, and James and Lily would be too. We hope you’re settling in well, and can’t wait to hear about your first week. Give our love to Minerva and be good._

_Much love,  
Remus and Sirius_

…*…*…*…

Harry’s first letter home arrived on Sunday and read:

_Hi Papa and Uncle Sirius,_

_Hogwarts is amazing! I know you guys told me it would be, but it’s even better than the stories._

_In charms, we’re starting small and working on changing the colour of the sparks we can produce with our wands, but Professor Flitwick is great. I like him much better than I like Professor Snape, who is just plain mean. He taunted Neville all class, and tried to single me out during role call for being famous. He didn’t look pleased when I knew perfectly well that powdered root of asphodel and an infusion of wormwood give you the drought of living death!_

_I’m not so sure Professor Binns is a great teacher either – he doesn’t seem sure who exactly he’s teaching, and he didn’t even notice that Hermione had her hand up to ask a question. Hermione is another Gryffindor. She’s muggle born and understands chemistry and geography and muggle history, which is nice. I’ve leant her _It’s Not Magic_ , but I hope she mellows out a bit – she’s sort of a know it all, and she really annoys Ron._

_Transfiguration is really interesting, but I embarrassed myself pretty badly by accidentally calling Professor McGonagall Auntie Min when I needed help…_

_Astronomy is really cool, and I saw the star Uncle Sirius is named after. Getting up the next morning is a bit hard though._

_I’m hoping Defense picks up a bit… Professor Quirrell has a terrible stutter that makes it hard to understand his lectures, and we haven’t done anything practical yet. And I got a terrible headache when I was in his class, so it was hard to concentrate._

_Yesterday I went and had tea with Auntie Min, and said sorry for calling her that in front of the class. She said Amelia did it three times in her first week, and she didn’t seem too annoyed. Hagrid has invited me to come for tea this afternoon, so I’m going to go get Ron and head down to his hut._

_Love you both lots,  
Harry_


	9. Gifts

When it came time for flying lessons Hermione was the only nervous one in Gryffindor – Neville had been taught years ago by a very enthusiastic Sirius. Harry still laughed when Madam Hooch told Malfoy he had been holding his broom wrong all these years, but that was the most eventful moment of the class. 

Quite quickly it seemed to Harry, Halloween came. Feeling down about his birth parent’s deaths, and missing his Papa and Uncle Sirius and the old photo albums and hot cocoa, Harry didn’t even notice how rude Ron was to Hermione during Charms that day, or how upset Hermione was after class. He did notice that she was missing from the Halloween feast, but he mostly just wished he was too. He wondered if Auntie Min might bend the rules a little and let him floo call home tonight.

But Harry’s musings were interrupted by professor Quirrell, because Halloween had brought with it a troll. And Harry, being Harry, wasn’t about to let Hermione meet that troll, so off he ran, with Ron on his heels, to tell her what had happened. He hadn’t planned to meet the troll at all, never mind lock it in the bathroom with Hermione, or actually fight the hulking mass of grey, smelly, magic resistant skin. But fight it they did, and those three kids won. When the professors turned up, Hermione lied for the boys and McGonagall awarded Ron and Harry five points each. She sent Ron and Hermione off to the tower and the rest of the feast and she took Harry to her office, where she offered him a shortbread biscuit from a tartan tin, and a mug of hot cocoa, and the story of Lily and James’ first patrol together as Head Boy and Head Girl.

When Harry returned to Gryffindor tower he felt like maybe today wasn’t so bad, and while his chest still ached with the hollow sort of missing that he always felt at this time of year, he didn’t feel so lonely, or so far away from his Papa and his Uncle Sirius. He slept well that night, and when he woke the next morning it was to discover that Ron and Hermione were now friends. He thought perhaps that troll wasn’t so bad after all.

 

…*…*…*…

 

At Christmas, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys all boarded to Hogwarts express to go home for the Holiday. Ron’s brother Charlie would be visiting from Romania, and Harry and Hermione were both invited to the annual Weasley Christmas Party. 

When Harry woke on Christmas morning it was to a bulging stocking hung on his bed and yet more presents under the tree, with pancakes cooking themselves under Sirius’ watch in the kitchen, and hot cocoa waiting by his favourite chair. There was a new chess set, a beautiful selection of crystal potions vials, a framed map of Wizarding Britain from 1784 that Sirius said his dad used to keep in his study, several books, a new Weasley jumper, mounds of Chocolate Frogs and Licorice Wands, and, oddly, a lumpy package with no sender’s name. When Harry opened it, a mass of smooth, shiny fabric fell on to his lap and Sirius started laughing so hard he could barely get the words “I wondered if the old man still had that!” out. Remus was grinning too, and he chuckled properly when he read the note, which just said “I’ll let Mooney and Padfoot explain. Happy Christmas.”

“Well, put it on and go have a look in the mirror – that’s a very stylish new cloak,” Sirius said once he stopped laughing so hard. Harry’s shriek of “but I’m invisible!” set him off again a moment later. Finally, Remus explained – the cloak had belonged to James, a family heirloom, and it was a fabulous invisibility cloak that just never seemed to fail. It had helped them execute a number of excellent pranks in their school days, but, Remus said, Auntie Min would be told about it, and she would have no problem punishing him for misbehaviour executed with the help of the cloak. Laughing, Harry agreed, and he was so distracted by the good fortune of having an invisibility cloak that he didn’t think to ask who had sent it.

With a sudden sobriety Sirius handed Harry one final present. Unwrapping it, Harry found an old hand mirror. Confusedly, he looked up at Sirius and said “Um, thanks. I suppose this is a joke about getting me to make my hair lie flat?”

“Ha, no. That’s a very tidily enchanted mirror. I know you found it difficult not being able to talk to us at Halloween, and I don’t want that to happen again. Your dad, James, I mean, and I used to use those to communicate during the summer. All you have to do it say my name to your mirror and my mirror will heat up and rattle, and I can answer it like a telephone, only with a picture too. Here, try it.” And Sirius pulled a second mirror out of his pocket and gestured for Harry to talk to his own mirror. 

“Sirius Black” Harry said, still half convinced this was all some elaborate prank. But sure enough, Sirius’ mirror began rattling against the table, and the surface of it clouded over until Sirius picked it up. Then it cleared and Harry saw himself looking back out of Sirius’ mirror. “Cool!” he exclaimed, and his voice echoed out of the mirror half a second later and a little tinny, but perfectly clear.

Harry said his thank yous, and hugged both Sirius and Remus, before settling in with one of his new books. Before long, it was time to head to Minerva and Elphinstone’s for Christmas lunch, so they all got dressed in nice trousers and shirts, with their new Weasley jumpers, and headed in to the floo. It was a good Christmas.

 

…*…*…*…

Back at school, Harry told Hermione and Ron about the cloak, but decided to keep the mirror to himself for the time being. 

School carried on uneventfully, as January became February and Slytherin beat Ravenclaw by a narrow margin in a game that Harry and Ron probably would have enjoyed watching more if it hadn’t been so cold and sleety out. As February faded in to March Gryffindor played Hufflepuff in cold but merely rainy conditions and suffered a painful defeat. While Wood was a strong captain and Keeper, and Harry knew the twins were excellent Beaters, the team just couldn’t win without a decent Seeker. While Alicia, Katie, and Angelina put away a solid number of goals, Cedric Diggory caught the snitch after less than an hour of play, while Gryffindor’s seeker, second year Cormac McLaggen, spent the entire time trying to tell the other players how to do their jobs and didn’t seem to look for the snitch at all.

March became April, and Hermione started to work out detailed revision schedules, to Harry’s amusement and Ron’s annoyance. Neville at least seemed to appreciate her efforts. Trying to stave off a revision induced argument between Ron and Hermione, Harry suggested a trip to visit Hagrid.

Unfortunately this did nothing to calm anybody’s nerves, because when they got there Ron quickly recognized the large egg in Hagrid’s fireplace as that of a dragon.


	10. Norbert

“I think we should tell my Auntie Min – she’ll know what to do.”

“Yes, Harry is absolutely right – we need to tell a teacher.”

“But what is she gets Hagrid in trouble? Dragon breeding is illegal, and as nice as Professor McGonagall is, she’s not really the sort to show favouritism.”

“Um, how illegal is dragon breeding?”

“Very. My brother Charlie says you can wind up in Azkaban for it, if you survive at all – dragons are really dangerous.”

“Oh, but that’s it, Ron! Charlie! He can take the dragon!”

“Uh, yeah, I suppose he could. How are we supposed to get the dragon to Romania though?”

“Oh bother, I’m not sure… If we had an adult to help I don’t suppose it would be too difficult, but I don’t want Hagrid taken to Azkaban!” 

“Yeah, but what kind of adult isn’t going to tell on him?”

“Actually, I may have an idea. I mean, my Uncle Sirius was always getting in to trouble at school, he’s told me. And he would never want anyone innocent to go to Azkaban…”

“Harry, that’s brilliant!”

“Merlin’s pants, that’s going to be an awkward letter to write…”

“Actually, we don’t need to write a letter. Come on, I have something to show you – a Christmas present from Sirius.”

 

…*…*…*…

 

Over the next three weeks two things hatched – first Norbert, and then a plan to get Norbert to Romania. It was decided via owls between Charlie and Sirius that Sirius would take his motorbike to Hogwarts, where Hagrid would meet him with Norbert all boxed up for a long journey. Sirius would then fly south to meet up with some of Charlie’s friends in the open farmland east of Glasgow. They could then fly on to Romania, which they had been planning to do anyways, with some extra cargo they most certainly hadn’t been planning on. 

The morning after this plan was due to come to fruition Harry, Hermione and Ron all skipped breakfast. Instead, they gathered in Harry and Ron’s empty dorm and used the mirror to call an exhausted but satisfied Sirius. 

Nobody except Hagrid was sad to see Norbert go.

 

…*…*…*…

Exams came and went, and Harry thought he had done fairly well. He thought he may even have managed an E in Potions since Snape had stopped going out of his way to torment Harry. Mostly he ignored, but that suited Harry perfectly well. He even partnered with Neville most classes to try and protect him from Snape, which worked for both of them – Neville’s Herbology knowledge was years ahead of the rest of the class, which meant he could give Harry lots of interesting little tidbits about the ingredients which helped Harry correct Neville’s mistakes, and which he noted down to experiment with later. Thanks to Neville’s tip that shrivelfigs love olive oil, Harry had realized that they could be juiced much more easily and without losing potency if you first left them to rehydrate in olive oil. That little trick had saved them so much time on their practical exam that they managed to actually finish the engorgement draught they had been set to making, and Harry now had several lovely bottles of fig olive oil to give to the adults for Christmas. 

At the leaving feast Dumbledore gave a very strange speech. After announcing that Professor Quirrell had left due to “a difference of opinion too great to reconcile” he went on for a while about making the right choice, not the easy one, and about not allowing ones desires to become corrupted. Harry didn’t really understand what the speech was about, but he couldn’t say he was sad to see Quirrell go – Madame Pomfrey’s potions had never been able to quell the headaches he always got in his class. 

When Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express he was very much looking forward to a summer spent playing Quidditch with the Weasleys, and going to museums and the cinema with Evan and Christine and maybe Hermione, if she wanted to join them. Maybe she'd even want to join them for Quidditch. He was so glad to be going home to his Papa that he thought maybe missing Hogwarts for two months would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's a bit short, but it seemed like the best place to stop for now. Year one is finished! I should have the start of year two up within the next two weeks - if I don't, feel free to send me irritated reminder messages :P


	11. Summer 1992

July faded in to August almost without Harry noticing. If it hadn’t been for his birthday, Harry doubted he would have noticed at all. Harry’s birthday was spent with his family, having tea and cake and adventures in Minerva and Elphonstone’s garden. The following Saturday saw Harry, Evan, Christine, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Neville all bundled in to the back of a surprisingly spacious camper van and headed to the relatively nearby Snowdonia National Park. Remus, Sirius and Arthur Weasley were all up front, Arthur having volunteered most enthusiastically to helping chaperone a night of muggle camping. 

It took the better part of three hours to get the tents set up, with the kids trying to help and generally getting underfoot. Arthur eventually took the boys off to gather firewood while Remus took the girls to collect pans of water and Sirius just magicked the tents up. The group all wandered down to a nearby lake to cool off after the morning’s work and ate sandwiches Molly had packed for heir lunch. By the time the kids had exhausted themselves and trekked back to the campsite dusk had begun to fall and Arthur took great delight in trying to start the fire with muggle matches. Remus eventually used incendio, but he did it from behind Arthur so his friend could believe he had managed in the muggle method. 

Once there were sausages sizzling over the fire and hot cocoa for all Harry took Neville aside and pulled a very awkwardly wrapped and oddly damp package out of his knapsack. “I, uh, I know it was your birthday the day before mine. I’m not sure why you didn’t tell the others, but Remus told me and I… well, I got you this.” He handed Neville the parcel and Neville began to unwrap it with some trepidation while Harry went on “I know you like plants, and you said last year that you would love to try your hand at growing some larger ones, and my Uncle Elpie has this really amazing garden and he said that’d be a good place to start. It’s a cutting from one of his wiggentrees, which he said are perfectly safe as long as you don’t piss off the bowtruckles living in ‘em. He also said you’d be welcome to come visit him with me – he and my Auntie Min live in Hogsmeade and he said he’d give you a tour of his garden and any clippings you wanted, as long as they’re safe.”

Smiling hugely, Neville gave Harry a quick hug and began to talk quite happily about the properties of wiggentrees, and the boys drifted back to the rest of the group, where Hermione, Evan, and Christine were trying desperately to explain s’mores to Ron and Ginny.

By Sunday evening Arthur perhaps slightly regretted his choice to chaperone. After packing up and driving back to Remus’ Neville, Evan, and Christine had all headed home Now Arthur and Remus were sitting on the little stone patio and enjoying the warm breeze and a (much deserved) whiskey while Ron, Harry, and Ginny zipped about the tree tops in the last of the day’s sun. Arthur massaged his neck - the crick there suggested he may be getting too old for uncomfortable nights on camp mattresses, and the pain in his knees fairly screamed that he was too old to be climbing mountains with a herd of children. Remus, sitting next to him, looked like he agreed. Somehow, Sirius seemed perfectly energetic and had begun summoning apples for the children to chase. Much as Arthur was looking forward to his own bed tonight, the children looked so happy he couldn’t quite bring himself to drag his two back through the floo just yet. He’d just finish his whiskey first.

 

…*…*…*…

 

Despite Molly Weasley’s interest in attending Gilderoy Lockheart’s book signing, it was decided that a quieter day would be better to bring Harry to Diagon Alley to buy his school things, and so it was arranged that Molly and Arthur would take Ginny on the second to last Saturday before term started, while Remus and Sirius would take Harry and Ron the following Tuesday. Hermione’s parents couldn’t take the time off in the middle of the week, so she had decided to meet the Weasleys on Saturday. 

When Tuesday came, Ron flooed over early with tales of his dad having punched Draco Malfoy’s father in Flourish and Blotts. Harry thought perhaps this story had been embellished slightly – he found it hard to believe that Mr. Weasley would do something as reckless as try to hit Mr. Malfoy with Ginny’s cauldron – but he certainly believed the two had had an altercation. A letter from Hermione the next day confirmed that both parties had thrown punches after Mr. Malfoy had insulted Molly, Ginny, Hermione’s parents, and the Weasley name (while also confirming that Harry’s suspicions about the cauldron were entirely correct.)

By the time Ron, Harry, Remus and Sirius had made it to Diagon Alley it was past noon. Sirius, being Sirius, bought them all sundaes from Fortesque’s for lunch before they made their way Madame Malkin’s, the apothecary, and Quality Quidditch Supplies. Nobody actually needed anything from the broom shop, but Harry, Ron, and Sirius all desperately wanted to go and ogle the brand-new Nimbus 2001. Remus indulged them for half an hour before insisting they go to Flourish and Blotts so they could get home and have what he referred to as “actual food” for supper. 

In the book shop all thoughts of new brooms were driven from Harry’s head when he picked up the latest issue of Practical Potioneers and caught sight of one of that quarter’s cover articles:

Wolfsbane Wins Ministry Approval. Three years after Damocles Belby released his revolutionary research on a method of keeping werewolves safe during the full moon all necessary Ministry of Magic approvals have been obtained for the potion to be sold in Apothecaries and the ingredients and method of brewing to be made public. The potion, which allows werewolves to keep their human mind while transformed, has been deemed “Extremely Difficult” by the Committee for Experimental Potions and is released with a warning that improper brewing can cause serious injury or death. 

A spokeswizard from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures’ Beasts Division has released a statement confirming that “werewolves under the influence of wolfsbane present no significant risk to nearby humans. While accidents can happen, the transformed werewolves are no more dangerous than when in their human form.” 

To read Belby’s research and notes on the creation of the Wolfsbane potion, turn to page nine. For details on the ingredients and method of preparation, turn to page fourteen. 

Without really thinking, Harry hurried to the counter and pulled out his birthday money to pay for the thick magazine. While Harry knew his Papa would be happy to buy him almost anything in the store, especially an academic journal, something in Harry didn’t want his Papa to see this. Harry knew that “Extremely Difficult” potions were strictly NEWT level and above, and the idea of Remus knowing something this good existed but not being able to have it seemed worse to Harry than his not knowing at all. Neither Remus nor Sirius were terribly good at potions, and even Auntie Min had only scraped an A in her potions NEWT, so Harry thought it would simply be up to him to brew the potion. Buying it didn’t even occur to Harry – anything that difficult was bound to have a very hefty price tag, which Papa’s salary just wouldn’t cover, and he refused to take money from Harry or Sirius’ vaults. 

With his purchase shrunken to fit in his pocket by the nice sales lady, Harry wandered back to the others. They soon finished up their shopping and headed home, where Harry was so eager to get a look at that ingredients list that he only ate one helping of dessert and didn’t score a single goal on Ron when they went out to practice Quidditch after supper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am so sorry about how long this has taken me to get posted. When I started this story I had just moved to Switzerland and had time on my hands in the early days of my new job. Now that I'm settled time seems to be something there's much less of. Additionally, I have been having some health problems, so updates might continue to be a bit slow.
> 
> Secondly, I'm pretty sure that information of Pottermore strongly suggested that Wolfsbane had been available for several years before Remus returned to Hogwarts to teach, but that the ingredients were prohibitively expensive and the method very complicated, so he had never had it. I find this idea sort of sad, and also I feel sure the Ministry would try quite hard to keep anything that helped werewolves off the public market, so I've gone with a later date of invention and an even later date of public release. 
> 
> Lastly, thank you so so much to everyone who has commented! Kudos are great too and make me very happy - it really means a lot to know that people are enjoying my writing, but it makes me extra happy to know why you're enjoying it :)


	12. Elf Visits

It was a week after Harry’s birthday when Harry opened his bedroom door to find a house elf standing awkwardly next to his bed. At first Harry thought it was Jilpy and was about to ask her why she hadn’t come out to say hello. Then he noticed that this elf’s eyes were green, and he was much younger than Jilpy. Taller too, Harry thought absently, and dirtier. He said blankly “who are you?”

“Dobby sir,” the elf said with a bow, “and I have come to warn the great Mister Harry Potter that he must not return to Hogwarts.”

“What, why?”

“It is not being safe, Harry Potter Sir” the elf squeaked. “There is being a plot - ” and here the elf cut off abruptly and threw himself headlong at Harry’s dresser. 

After a split second of shock, Harry lunged forward and grabbed the elf’s ragged tea towel. “Stop that!” Harry said loudly, struggling to keep hold of Dobby. All of the noise summoned Remus and Sirius, who both stopped in the doorway looking confused. Their arrival seemed to scare Dobby, who redoubled his efforts to get out of Harry’s grasp, succeeding. 

In that instant, Sirius dove forward to catch the elf, and Remus shouted “Jilpy!” By the time Sirius managed to get back to his feet Jilpy had arrived, seen the strange elf, and grabbed his tea towel just as the elf disapparated, taking Jilpy with him. Looking shocked, Remus hurried forward to help Harry back to his feet and asked anxiously “are you alright, Harry?”

When Harry had nodded, Sirius said loudly and grumpily “I thought there were antiapparition wards a mile thick on this place?”

“There are,” Remus assured him, “but I don’t think they work on house elves. Their magic is different than ours. I’m not even sure it’s possible to prevent them apparating.”

“Brilliant,” Sirius said dryly. “Just bloody brilliant.”

“Language, Sirius!” Remus admonished, mostly out of habit. Then, shaking his head a little, he looked down at Harry. “Did he try to hurt you love?”

“No. No, he wanted to warn me about something, I think. He told I couldn’t go back to Hogwarts. He said it wasn’t safe; that there was some kind of plot, but then he just threw himself at the dresser mid-sentence. That’s when you came in,” Harry finished with a shrug. 

They all stood there in silence for a minute, until a loud crack announced Jilpy’s return. Her tea towel toga had a large rip in the hem and her bulbous nose was bleeding. Remus stepped forward and bent down to be at Jilpy’s height as he exclaimed “Jilpy, what happened? You’re hurt!”

At the same moment the elf said “I is being very sorry Master Remus, but the bad elf is getting away.”

Coming up next to Jilpy Harry said “Jilpy, it’s ok. I don’t think he was really a bad elf – I mean, I don’t think Dobby wanted to hurt any of us.”

Jilpy suddenly perked up. “Dobby, is you saying that elf was called, Master Harry?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Dobby is being a very odd elf name. Jilpy is knowing of only one elf who is being called Dobby – Jilpy’s mother’s cousin is having a son called Dobby. They is working for the Malfoy family, Master Harry!”

“The Malfoy’s!” Harry and Sirius both said is surprise. Then Sirius bellowed “Kreacher!” and yet another elf popped in to Harry’s bedroom. This one was older than Jilpy, with long white hair growing from his ears and nose.

“Master Sirius is calling poor Kreacher. What is the filthy blood traitor wanting, Kreacher wonders…” the elf muttered as it bowed deeply to Sirius. Harry, who had met Kreacher only once before and had not enjoyed the experience at all, took a step back and towards Remus. 

“Kreacher, do you know an elf named Dobby?” Sirius asked, then said loudly “answer me Kreacher! And don’t you forget that you have a blanket ban on lying” when the elf made no response.

“Kreacher does not forget that he can not lie to the blood traitor” the elf mumbled irritably to his toes, having bent in to another sarcastic bow. Straightening up he said “yes, Kreacher is knowing a Dobby.”

“How do you know him Kreacher?”

“Kreacher is meeting Dobby when his Master and Mistress are bringing him to meetings with Master Orion or Master Regulus. Sometimes Dobby is being with his Masters at Mistress Walburga’s parties and teas. Sometimes Kreacher is being with his Mistress or his Master Regulus when they is being visiting Dobby’s Masters.”

“Who Kreacher? Who are Dobby’s Masters?”

“Dobby is being one of the Malfoy elves. Lucky he is to be having such prestigious, such pure masters! Kreacher is wishing he were serving Cousin Narcissa…”

“Right, shut up now Kreacher. In fact, go back to Hogwarts.” Still muttering darkly Kreacher bowed to Sirius and disappeared. 

A minute passed in silence before Remus started and said “Oh Jilpy, I’m so sorry I forgot – let me fix your nose.”

“That is not being a good idea Master Remus. Wizard healing isn’t being good for elves; Jilpy can be doing it herself.” With a snap of her fingers Jilpy’s went back to it’s usual size, the swelling and the bleeding finished. She then turned a fond smile up to Remus and said “but thank you for being a kind Wizard who is thinking of the elves, Master Remus.”

After that nobody seemed sure what to do, so Jilpy ushered Harry, Remus and Sirius in to the living room and set the tea to making itself before popping off to get Minerva, who she thought seemed most likely to know what to do.

When Minerva had arrived and had Harry recount everything Dobby had said twice over she too sat looking thoughtful. After she had finished her cup of tea she set it down and said “well, I suppose it can’t hurt to send the Ministry to have a look through Malfoy manner. I don’t see what kind of trap they could be planning by sending their elf here like that, and if the elf honestly was trying to give a warning, which his attempt to punish himself suggests, ignoring it seems an unnecessary risk. I don’t see what the elf could possibly think would be a threat to Harry at Hogwarts though…” She trailed off and sat silently for another minute. “Yes, I shall have to speak to Dumbledore. He can arrange a raid on the Malfoy residence and he will know best how to handle threats to the school. As for the elf’s ability to come and go I don’t think there’s anything I can do. Elf magic is powerful and poorly studied.”

At this Jilpy drooped in her seat and said “Mistress, I is knowing how to stop other elves. All elves is knowing how, I is just not thinking to do it before. I is not thinking of elves as being a threat to Master Harry.”

“None of us were, Jilpy. It isn’t your fault and I would much prefer you not blame yourself” Minerva said, careful not to phrase it as a command. “How is it that you prevent other elves from visiting?”

“It is a ward, Mistress. Not like Wizard wards, not with the casting and the runes. Elf wards are being tied to us. Some we needs do extra magic for, but to be keeping other elves out is just a… choice, Mistress. The magic that is allowing elves to keep bad elves out is being part of the magic that bonds us to our Masters. All the places that a Master or Mistress is calling home, they is being part of that magic and elves is saying which other elves can be coming and going. Mostly we don’t use that magic; Master’s and Mistresses are not thinking of elves as a danger, and lots of Masters be bringing their elves to care for them when they is visiting other elf Masters. We is using that magic only when our Master or Mistress is saying that a Wizard or Witch is not to be welcome in their house, to make their elf not welcome too.”

“And you can do that here, jilpy?” Minerva asked.

“Yes Mistress.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them and added “and at Hogwarts. You is still thinking it is home Mistress, so it is being possible there too. Your cottage too, if Mistress would like?”

“Please Jilpy. I think it best if we ensure Dobby has access to as few locations which Harry frequents as possible. Thank you Jilpy. Now, with that settled I think I had best go to Hogwarts and consult Albus. I shall owl you if he has anything of immediate importance to say, and if not I shall see you for Sunday lunch and we can discuss his opinions then.” With that she stepped through the fire and was gone in a whoosh of green flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I spent enough time talking about elf magic in this chapter to bore anyone who doesn't find headcannons about the mechanics of magic interesting, but I also wanted to clarify some things, so I'm putting it here. 
> 
> My logic for Jilpy being able to use her magic on Harry and Remus' house despite not technically being bonded to them - Minerva is her Mistress currently, as she is bonded to the position of Deputy Head of Hogwarts through some combination of elf magic and the school's own magic - is that Minerva told her to treat Remus and Harry as her Masters. Kreacher taking Sirius' command to "get out" to mean leave the house in OotP, despite his knowing full well that that wasn't Sirius' meaning supports my theory that elf magic allows for interpretation. If Jilpy disliked Remus or Harry and did not want to truly treat them as her Masters, I don't think she would have to. I think she would merely have to follow the letter of Minerva's command, meaning following their direct orders. However, as Jilpy is very fond of Harry and Remus she chose to do more. Minerva considers Harry a surrogate grandson, and I think Jilpy is perfectly capable of using that to justify actually extending her elf bond to Harry based on him being family. I honestly don't know if that makes sense in the larger cannon of HP, but I think that the books do support the idea that a large part of magic is intention, so I think I can justify it that way :P


	13. Back to School

By the time September 1st rolled around Harry was eager to return to Hogwarts. The strange warning from the house elf Dobby aside the end of the summer had been fairly uninteresting and Harry was eager to be allowed to do magic again. More importantly, he was desperate to do some brewing. He had spent the last month reading and rereading the instructions for the Wolfsbane potion late at night by wand light and he was eager to discuss the potion with Hermione. Something had stopped him from bringing it up with her during the summer holidays, where even when the kids were left to their own devices Remus, Sirius, or one of Ron’s parents were always on the premises. He still did not want the adults aware of what he planned to attempt – it seemed the sort of thing he might get in trouble for, and Harry preferred to ask forgiveness than permission. He was also certain that Sirius would tell his Papa, and Harry maintained that it was better Remus not know of the possibility of safer transformations when he couldn’t have them. 

Harry arrived at Kings Cross just before 10:30 that morning, riding between Sirius and Remus on Sirius’ motorbike, the seat of which had been magically expanded for the flight from Wales. Remus would have much preferred to drive the Astra, but it simply took too long to drive the muggle way from Wales to London and the Astra didn’t fly. Actually, he would have preferred floo or apparition too. Or the train. Or literally anything other than clinging to Sirius’ leather jacket with Harry squashed in front of him while tiny smudges of towns and farms passed below them. But Harry had begged and Sirius had pleaded and Remus had given in to flying the bike to the outskirts of London and driving in to the centre. 

When the bike was parked and Harry’s trunk had been unshrunk and loaded on to a trolley the trio headed towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 only for Harry to bounce off of it when he made the usual run. Startled, he accepted Remus’ concerned hand but assured his Papa that he was fine. 

Pressing a hand to the bricks Sirius said with a note of not actually believing what he was saying “it’s solid…”

“No, it can’t be” Remus said, laying his own hand on the bricks. “That shouldn’t be possible.” 

“How am I going to get on the train? How is anyone else?” Harry said with a note of panic.

“Don’t worry darling, we’ll think of something. Honestly, I’m surprised Sirius and James never thought to try this when we were kids… I wonder… Sirius, could you cause a distraction? There's too many people watching us.”

Sirius grinned “Mooney, I thought you’d never ask,” before jogging halfway down the platform and disappearing behind an out of the way pillar. A moment later he reappeared as Padfoot and promptly began behaving like an ill trained puppy, tripping patrons and licking travelers with his huge front paws on their shoulder’s.

When Remus was certain nobody was looking at them he called quietly “Jilpy?”

With her usual pop the elf appeared. “What is Master Remus needing?”

“Jilpy, I’m sorry to call you away from school like this, but the barrier on to platform 9¾ is… closed. I thought perhaps... well, can you tell if it was closed with elf magic?”

Reaching out a tiny hand Jilpy touched the bricks and closed her eyes for a moment. “Oh yes, Master Remus, there is being a naughty elf closing the barrier. Jilpy is thinking she can fix it, but she is needing time Master Remus.”

As Remus thanked Jilpy and told her to take her time Harry looked casually around him, certain that even with Sirius still causing havoc people must have noticed Jilpy. But nobody seemed to be staring at them or pointing to the tiny greenish creature and Harry realized suddenly that he had never once seen one of the Hogwart’s elves going about their work at the school unless he sought them out. Perhaps, Harry mused, elves could make themselves invisible? But no, Harry could still see Jilpy. Maybe the elves just made themselves unnoticed, like a notice-me-not charm? He would, he decided, go and visit Jilpy in the kitchens and just ask her. 

By the time Padfoot had jumped in to a train carriage and emerged seconds later as Sirius, grinning broadly, and returned to the barrier Jilpy had pulled her hand back and declared “it is being open now Master Remus! I is going at once to tell Mistress Minerva. I is thinking that the bad elf Dobby is being the one to close the barrier,” and she was gone with a pop. 

Once safely on the platform Remus and Sirius helped Harry load his trunk in to a compartment and said their goodbyes. Neville was already in the compartment by the time Harry had arrived, and Hermione arrived while he was saying his goodbyes. Ron and Ginny, accompanied by the twins, Percy, and their very harassed looking parents arrived at ten to eleven and barely got their trunks on the train before it began pulling away. 

Harry, Ginny and Ron all stood at the window to wave to their parents, but Hermione’s parents had said goodbye on the muggle side of the barrier and Neville’s gran didn’t stand for undignified things like dangling out of windows. Once the platform had faded from view Harry took the seat next to Hermione and pulled the now rather battered edition of _The Practical Potioneer_ out of his bag and opened it to the instructions for the Wolfsbane potion.

“I want to make this” Harry said as he slid the open magazine on to Hermione’s lap.

Without looking at Harry Hermione picked up the magazine and started reading it. Finally, she said “Harry, this is a very complicated potion. NEWT level by the looks of it…”

“I know. And I’m not sure I could do it on my own, but with your help I think we could do it.”

“Well, that’s very flattering, but the ingredients for a single dose are more than my robes cost! And, well, it’s very dangerous if brewed wrong. I mean, you said that full moons weren’t so bad for Remus as long as Padfoot is with him and I think we risk doing more harm than good…”

“The ingredients aren’t a problem – I’ve already got enough for three attempts on owl order from the apothecary. They should arrive by next week, and I can get more. Sirius is… well, I don’t think he really knows what a normal amount of pocket money is, actually. And I know it could go badly wrong, but that’s why I want to practice. I haven’t even told my Papa that this potion exists yet, because I know it’ll probably be the Easter holidays before we manage a successful batch, but I can’t… I can’t not try, Hermione. If you won’t help, then that’s your choice, but I’m doing this for my Papa.”

Hermione sat quietly for a solid minute before she sighed. “Well, there’s no stopping you, and I’d rather you not try to do something like this on your own. Some of these ingredients are dangerous, Harry! I don’t doubt we’ll be breaking about a dozen school rules. We’ll need somewhere out of the way to brew it, I suppose…” There was a pause so long Harry thought she had drifted off in to her own thoughts and left the conversation before Hermione said, hesitantly, “and Harry, when we think we’ve got it right, I want Professor Snape to make sure we have. No,” she held up a hand to forestall Harry’s indignant complaint, “if we got something wrong we could kill your father and I for one am not willing to take that risk. We need a Potions Master to approve our work. That’s my condition for helping you, and if you don’t agree to it I’ll go straight to Professor McGonagall and tell her what you’re planning.”

Looking sulky and somewhat betrayed, but also rather scared, Harry snapped “fine.” For all that Harry hated Snape, the idea that he could accidentally kill his Papa hadn’t really registered with him until Hermione had said it, and it made his guts twist unpleasantly with shame and fear. 

Ron, sensing the high levels of discomfort in the carriage, suggested a game of exploding snap with rather more enthusiasm than was necessary, and by the third hand the tension had drained from the compartment and the rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly.


End file.
